A Mortal Among Gods
by DarkAvenger001
Summary: Damon Eterson, a scholar, finds a strange temple and, through what can only be described as the work of fate, finds himself on the Battlefield of the Gods. After an...energetic reaction to his new surroundings, something new is created. Not mortal, not god, and not demi-god.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, I decided to start a story that's a bit different than the other ones I've done thus far. Namely, make one in the universe of a franchise that has virtually no story elements already established beyond the original myths and smite god reveal videos, so everything's pretty much my idea. That being said, I'm not sure how much people will like this one, so once I finish the pure Smite portion, which will be several chapters, I'll let you all have the decision of whether or not I continue it to make it a mass x-over. Either way, the ending I have planned for the Smite portion will be sufficient to either move on to a new arc or ending the story there. Now, there is something you all should be aware of. This story will be a mass harem story. I realize this bothers some people, so I am warning you now: If you do not like mass harems, do NOT read this story!**

 **Anywho, please, remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.**

 **Chapter 1: Entering the Battlefield of the Gods**

Footsteps echoed through the empty stone corridors as Damon Eterson made his way through the empty tunnels of a temple he discovered. A scholar by trade, he was fascinated by the stories of a strange temple in the middle of the desert. For months, he sought help to find some way of getting to it, but no one was willing. Everyone he spoke to was too afraid to go anywhere near it, but his curiosity would not be abated until he found this temple and learned its secrets. Eventually he found someone willing to give him a map leading to the temple and that is when he decided that if no one was going to help him, then he was going to search the temple himself! After all, he was more than capable of defending himself, having been trained in hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship on top of his scholastic teachings..

Once he found the temple, after several days of riding on horseback, he had to admit there did seem to be an aura of foreboding around the temple, but his fascination with his findings thus far overwhelmed any fear he might have had. He was astonished to find that the temple showed markings and statues of not just one religion or pantheon like he thought he'd find, but instead of multiple religions. He found images of the likes of Thor, Poseidon, Neith, Susanno'o, and many others! Damon knew right away the significance of such a thing. It hinted that perhaps the religions so many still worshiped to this day were not always so separate as they were in modern day.

Damon's awe only increased when he reached the main chamber at the center of the temple and found what appeared to be a circular pedestal with two curved spikes on either side.

"Fascinating," he muttered, running his hand through his black hair, "Some kind of altar, perhaps?" He noticed there was writing along the steps up to the altar, "Huh, there's a mix of languages here," he said, "Greek letters, Egyptian heirogliphs, Norse runes, Mayan heirogliphs, Chinese characters, Japanese kanji. This is astonishing! Let me see if I can read this. When the throne sits empty, the one who fills it shall rule all. The divine ones bound to the mortal plane shall use the gate to reach the battlefield," he read aloud as he followed the words up the stairs to the platform, where he sat down to think, "Hmm, divine ones bound to the mortal plane. There are a few myths of deities being stuck on Earth, so it's probably in reference to that, but throne? What could that be referring to? Also, what is this gate? And is it really talking about a battle between gods? Between pantheons?"

He leaned back to relax and try to think, not noticing where he placed his hands as when they both touched specific symbols on the floor, they lit up with a dark blue energy, which spread over the platform and up the spikes.

"What the?" Damon said, standing up in surprise as the energy spread throughout the platform, surrounding it, and connected the two spikes via a beam of energy. Out of the center of the beam, a bubble formed, growing to contain the entire platform and Damon, despite him backing up, to try and avoid it. Damon tried to pull himself out of the bubble, but he found it as hard as steel even as it enveloped him. Once he was fully inside the bubble, the room became so bright that he couldn't see a thing before it felt like every molecule was being ripped apart. Damon, at that point, did the only thing he could: scream until he passed out.

Damon didn't know how long he was unconscious, but the next thing he knew, he could hear faint muffled voices, like hearing people talk through glass. He could feel the ground beneath him. It wasn't the cool stone of the platform beneath his body, but rather dirt or sand.

The voices became clearer and one, clearly male, said, "His eyes moved. He's beginning to awaken."

Damon opened his eyes and, after a few seconds, his vision cleared and found he was looking up at two men. One had long blonde hair with a beard and mustache, was dressed in armor, and carried a massive hammer. The other man had a long black beard and was dressed in green. The man in green carried a large guandao.

"Are you alright?" the man in green asked.

"What happened?" Damon groaned as he sat up to see that he was no longer in the temple, but instead in a field surrounded by ruins.

"I found you unconscious in the middle of a very dangerous area, so I brought you here," said an angelic sounding female voice behind Damon.

He looked behind him to see the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her long blonde hair was tied in a pair of ponytails overlapping each other. Her light blue outfit barely covered any of her flawless skin.

"'Tis most curious to find a mortal here," the blonde man said, leaning his hammer on his shoulder, "I did not think it was possible."

"We can worry about that later," the woman said, kneeling next Damon, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I gu-urk!" Damon grunted as it suddenly felt like something had grabbed his heart and squeezed hard.

"What's happening!?" the woman shouted.

"Mortals aren't meant to be here!" the man in green said, "Who knows how his body would react to this place! It is permeated with energy of the gods of multiple pantheons."

As he said this, dark blue energy covered his body and cracks grew up his arms and down from his eyes and down his cheeks. He writhed in pain as the cracks grew across his body and the energy radiated from his body.

Noticing the pulses of energy were speeding up, the man in green grabbed the woman by her arm and pulled her behind some cover with the blonde man following behind them. Seconds later, the energy erupted from his body in a massive explosion. After waiting a few seconds, the man in green looked up from behind cover to see Damon lying on the ground again, panting from the pain. The cracks on his arms and face were still releasing the energy, but it appeared to be stabilized.

Groaning, Damon stood up, his legs wobbly as he got his balance. He turned to look at them the three, who were surprised to see Damon's eyes now looking as if they were burning with dark blue fire.

"I-It's okay," he groaned as he clenched and unclenched his hands, "I-I think it's done. Now, please tell me where am I? Who are you? What happened to me?"

"You are in a world different from the world of mortals," the man in green said, "This is the world where the gods go to do battle with one another. We are each members of different pantheons. I am Guan Yu. I have been called the Saint of War."

"I am the Norse god of thunder, Thor!" the blonde man said, smiling confidently, "I am pleased that thou did not explode!"

"I am Aphrodite," the beautiful woman said, "I am the Greek goddess of beauty and love."

"You're…gods," Damon said, his brain having trouble accepting what they were saying.

"Yes," Guan Yu said, firmly.

"Huh," Damon said, numbly, before saying, "Excuse me, uh, Guan Yu, can I borrow that?"

Frowning with confusion as to the strange request, the Saint of War handed his weapon to Damon, who held it with his right hand at the base of the blade before placing the blade against his left palm and sliced into his flesh. Damon hissed with pain as the three gods moved to grab the weapon. Guan Yu pulled the weapon from Damon's grasp while Aphrodite pulled a ribbon from her hair to wrap it around his hand to stanch the blood.

"That hurt," he said, dumbly, "You can't get hurt in a dream."

"You aren't in a dream," Guan Yu said, "This is very real."

Damon looked at the other two, who nodded in agreement. He then looked at his hands noticing the cracks on his arms. "Any idea what happened to me?"

"Thou seems to have absorbed the energy of this plane," Thor said, "Thou shouldst be cautious. We do not know what it could have done to you."

"Sounds like a good idea," Damon said, "Do you know how to get back to the, uh, mortal world?"

"I don't think so," Aphrodite said, "As far as I know, the only one that can send anyone from this world to the land of mortals is king of the gods."

"So, where can I find him?" Damon said.

"Unfortunately, that is the cause of the war currently happening between the gods," Guan Yu said, "Before now, the Christian god, the leader of the largest religion, has controlled the throne, but he and all those involved in that religion have disappeared, leaving his throne open to whomever can take it, so many gods and goddesses are fighting each other in order to take the throne and become the dominant ruler over the mortals as well."

"So, is that what you all are trying to do as well?" Damon asked, his curiosity getting the better of him again.

"I don't really have any interest in that," Aphrodite said, "I, um, just have my own reasons for joining the war."

"I have no interest either. In fact, most of those from the Chinese pantheon do not," Guan Yu said, "But I do wish to find someone worth serving to help them onto the throne."

"I wish to see my father on the throne," Thor said, smiling, "I have yet to find one who would be better suited!"

"Well, I hope whoever wins will be good to the mortals," Damon said, gaining looks of curiosity from the three deities, "So many gods have been known to be cruel and petty towards mortals for even the slightest of reasons. Not letting the gods bed them, making a minor comment against a deity, siding with one god over another, breaking the head god's rules even when the same god doesn't follow them, or just because they could. Hopefully, it'll be someone worthy of the throne."

"Quite right," Thor agreed, "Though I am not certain such a god exists. Even my father, as noble and honorable as he is, has his flaws, though I still feel he is the best choice."

"Your loyalty to your father does you credit," Guan Yu said, "A son should always support his father."

"What about you, Aphrodite?" Damon asked, "What's a goddess of beauty and love doing involving herself in a war between gods? Man, I still have trouble believing all of this."

She gave him a beautiful smile and, brushing a strand of golden hair behind her ear, said, "It's, um, a little personal. I'd rather not say it."

"Okay, that's fair," Damon said, nodding, "While I'm not exactly a slouch when it comes to fighting, I'm not sure I'm cut out for getting involved in a war between gods, no matter how strange I look now. Is there a safe place I can hide out to avoid being caught in the middle?"

Damon felt a little embarrassed about seeming so cowardly. He truly did want to help, but what could a single mortal do in a war between gods? Sure, the trio of deities before him didn't seem to be too upset or disappointed, but that didn't make him feel any better. Guan Yu and Thor seemed to be pretty nice peo-er, gods and Damon didn't like the idea of lowering himself in terms of their level of respect, but the one that he was most worried about disappointing was Aphrodite. It wasn't because he was attracted to her, though there was a bit of that, after all she was very attractive. It was because she seemed so different than he thought she'd be like from the myths he'd always heard. Sure, she had the natural sensuality and beauty he'd expect, but he could almost see something else, something she kept hidden beneath the surface, especially when the topic of why she was involved in the war came up. Whatever that something was, it was the main reason Damon didn't want to disappoint her.

"Unfortunately not," Guan Yu said, answering Damon's question, "This entire plane is divided into different areas and any one of them could become the site of a new battle."

"Great," Damon sighed, rubbing his head in frustration, "Guess I'll have to find something."

"You could stay with us for a time," Aphrodite said, "We could help you."

When she said that, Damon felt like a great load was taken off of him, so looking at Thor and Guan Yu and seeing they weren't bothered by the offer, said, "Okay, then. Thank you very much."

Before anyone could respond, something big and furry slammed into Guan Yu and tried to bite his face off. The Warrior Saint managed to block just in the nick of time sticking the shaft of his guando in between the jaws of what looked to Damon like a human-wolf hybrid.

"Fenrir!?" Thor said, in shock as Guan Yu pushed the beast away from him. Thor then bashed away a snake with the head of a wolf, but as soon as he did, three more attacked him. As he bashed them away, the giggling of a little girl was heard.

"We thought we smelled some tasty morsels over here," said a girl who appeared to have the wolf-snakes coming out of her dress, "Good. We were getting very hungry."

"I might have known Fenrir would ally with a beast such as yourself, Scylla!" Thor said as he made another powerful swing to bash away another pair of wolf-heads.

"Not just your nephew, Thor," the horror of the sea giggled.

Their attention was drawn away from Scylla to Aphrodite, who cried out in fear and surprise.

Damon looked over to the goddess to see she was using her staff to barely hold off a creature that he'd never see before. It was humanoid in appearance with spikes all over its body and its entire torso was opening to reveal it was another massive mouth lines with dagger-like teeth.

"Bakasura there was so impatient about getting a snack that it was hard to get him to wait until your guard was down," Scylla giggled. Then, the female monster noticed Damon standing back from the fight. "Well, well, I don't recognize you. Not that it matters, I'm sure you'll taste just as yummy as these three."

Damon was frozen with fear as he watched the three gods fight some of the most fearsome and bloodthirsty monsters in history. He wanted to run, but he couldn't. He wanted to fight, but he couldn't. He could do nothing, but stand and watch as the gods barely held off the savage monsters. His immobility only lasted a few more seconds when he heard Aphrodite cry out as Bakasura knocked her to the ground and dove at her, both of its mouths opened wide to dig into her soft, flawless flesh. Damon moved, the dark blue energy flaring around his arms, without even meaning to and socked Bakasura in the side of its head, sending it flying into the humanoid body of Scylla. They both crashed into a wall.

"Woah," Damon said in awe as he looked at his arms, "Guess I can help after all."

Using the opening, Thor moved and hit Fenrir in the side, sending it crashing into the other monsters.

"Are you alright?" Damon asked Aphrodite, holding a hand out to help her up.

"Thank you," she said, standing up with his help.

"Die!" Scylla shouted as she sent all of the wolf-heads at Damon, who hit them with a roundhouse kick to knock them into each other. Thor, Guan Yu, and Aphrodite moved to stand by Damon, all squaring off against the monsters.

Bakasura hissed and Fenrir growled at the humanoid beings while Scylla snarled at them, "This isn't over!"

With that, the three monsters ran off, leaving the quartet to take a sigh of relief.

"I, uh, guess I'm not so helpless after all," Damon laughed uncomfortably.

"So, it would appear," Guan Yu said, "Will you get involved in the war then?"

"Guess so," Damon said, shrugging, "If I do, maybe I can find a god that could rule well."

"There is another possibility," Guan Yu said, gaining Damon's curiosity, "You could give it a try."

"M-Me?" Damon asked incredulously, "I-I'm not a god. I'm just a human! A human with powers I don't fully comprehend yet, sure, but still human! I can't be king of the gods!"

"I don't see why not," Aphrodite said, "You just fought with us against those three beasts. While that might not be much compared to fighting real gods, it's a good start. Besides, these powers of yours don't appear to be much different than those of a gods."

"I don't know," Damon said, uncertain, "Why don't we just try to find some more allies and see where it goes?"

"'Tis an acceptable idea," Thor said, nodding, "Perhaps the warriors of Asgard can join our cause!"

"And I'm sure a few Greeks can be persuaded," Aphrodite said, smiling that gorgeous smile.

"Well, then," Damon said, "Where should we go? I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

 **A/N: And there's chapter 1! Please, remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Reviews:**

 **Murphy:**

 **Because they never learn. That's why.**

 **cjboughton:**

 **Glad you like it.**

 **Pishascha:**

 **Thanks very much!**

 **TheLunaticChild:**

 **Don't worry. He won't be able to take on an entire pantheon until very late in the story. This past fight it was mostly just him taking them by surprise than him overpowering them.**

 **Please remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.**

 **Chapter 2:**

 **Terrors Increase**

It had been a day since Damon and his godly companions fought against the monsters of three different pantheons. They were currently resting near the ruins of a Chinese temple.

"I have to say, it's a bit unnerving that I don't feel the least bit hungry," Damon said, "Whatever has happened to my body seems to be affecting my need to eat and drink."

"Have you noticed any other changes beyond those and your powers?" Guan Yu asked.

"Nothing that seems very obvious," Damon said, "I don't suppose any of you have an idea about the nature of these changes?"

"I'm afraid not," Aphrodite said, "While none of us are stupid, such things are beyond us. Perhaps a god of wisdom or intelligence would be better able to solve the mystery."

"That's not a bad idea," Damon said, "Are there any nearby that you know of?"

"Well, there is Thoth of the Egyptian pantheon," Guan Yu said, "There is also Athena of the Greeks."

"Which is closer?" Damon asked.

"The Greeks," Aphrodite said with Damon picking up a displeased tone in her voice, "If Athena's anywhere, it's with her _beloved father_.

Damon noticed she seemed to be angry when she mentioned Athena's father, Zeus, but he decided not to mention it. He figured it was better to discuss such matters in private.

"Alright, we'll head towards the Greeks first," Damon said, "Aphrodite will lead the way."

"Verily!" Thor said, "Shall we go and find them?"

"Sounds good," Damon nodded before flinching with pain and rubbing his wounded hand, "Well, I guess we know that I'm not a god."

"What do you mean?" Aphrodite asked, her voice filled with concern.

"You all had scratches and bruises from the fight with those monsters, but they're healed already. My hand, which I admittedly stupidly cut before that, is still not healed, so if I don't heal like you all, then obviously I'm not a god," Damon explained.

"Not yet at least," Aphrodite said, shrugging, "Anyway, the way to the rest of my pantheon is on the other side of the temple."

The group headed through the temple with Aphrodite leading the way.

"So, Aph, uh, I know you want to keep some things personal and everything and that's fine, but I have to know something," Damon said as they walked.

"What is it?" she asked, curious.

"I just…I noticed when we were talking about your pantheon, you didn't sound very happy about the idea of seeing them, so I just want to make sure we won't be running into any enemies by meeting them," Damon said.

"Oh, no, they shouldn't be hostile to us. At least not right away," she explained, "It's just…I'm not very fond of my pantheon for the most part."

"Okay," Damon said, accepting her answer.

"So…Aph?" she asked with an amused tone.

"Uh, yeah, I give people nicknames sometimes, especially if their names are long. Does it bother you?" Damon asked.

"No," she said, shaking her head, "It's just…no one's ever given me a nickname before. I…rather like it."

"Really?" Damon asked, "No one?"

She shook her head, "No. It's always been 'Lady Aphrodite' this and 'Mistress Aphrodite' that when I wasn't just called my full name. No one's ever been close enough to me to treat me so informally."

That comment surprised Damon, since the myths and legends surrounding the goddess often discussed her "closeness" with others, but knowing how she wanted to keep her past private, he didn't press for clarification.

"So, what sort of skills do you have?" Damon asked her, "The stories about you never pegged you as a fighter."

"My skills, as you put it, are more for support rather than frontline fighting," Aphrodite said, "I'm able to use magic to augment my allies or weaken my enemies."

"That sounds pretty useful," Damon said, sounding genuinely impressed.

"Thank you," she said, looking away from him, so Damon couldn't see her face as they left the temple.

"Aw, isn't this sweet. I wonder if you'll taste as sweet," a familiar female voice giggled before suddenly a wolf headed snake shot out of the shadows, grabbing Damon's arm and slamming him into the ground, "I'm afraid, my tasty mortal, that your powers won't take me by surprise again."

"Release him, foul beast!" Thor shouted charging at Scylla, only to be intercepted by Fenrir.

Guan Yu came to his aid and knocked Fenrir off of the Norse god. Bakasura then shot out of the shadows to try and attack the Chinese saint of war when his back is turned, but Damon, now freed from Scylla's grasp thanks to Aphrodite summoning a flock of doves to knock the arm off of him, charged between Bakasura and Guan Yu and hit the hungry demon with a roundhouse kick.

"This won't stop us, Scylla!" Damon shouted, "You're outnumbered and we're gonna take you down!"

"Well, you're partly right," Scylla said, still giggling like the little girl her main body appeared to be, "We **were** outnumbered, but luckily we found a new friend that was drawn by the smell of tasty mortal blood."

Before anyone could say anything else, Damon felt a searing pain from his back, making him cry out.

The sounds of massive wings flapping directed their attention to a high wall of the temple where what looked like a massive humanoid bat was perched.

"I trust you all know Camazotz, the Mayan god of bats," Scylla giggled, "He was drawn by the sweet smell of mortal blood, but knew he couldn't take you all by himself so he joined our little group, provided he got your mortal blood all to himself."

Damon grunted with pain as he got ready to fight again, "Doesn't matter, we'll still take you out!"

Camazotz screeched and took off into the air, flying a blazing speeds at Damon.

"Look out!" Aphrodite shouted, knocking him out of the way just in time.

"Thanks, Aph," Damon said, getting back to his feet and helping her do the same, "I didn't expect it to be that fast. We won't be able to hit it if we can't slow it down at least. I don't suppose you have any spells that can do that?"

Aphrodite shook her head, "No, at least none that I think I can manage to hit it with."

"Great," Damon sighed before he quickly started thinking through his options, before a thought occurred to him, "Wait. God of bats! Of course!" he shouted before he looked at Thor and Guan Yu who were squaring off against Scylla, Bakasura, and Fenrir, "Guys, think you can hold those three off?"

"We can for a while!" Guan Yu said, "But what about you?" 

"I've got a plan!" Damon said cryptically before turning back to Aphrodite, "Aph, I need you to use your magic to augment my physical abilities."

"What?" she asked in surprise.

"No time to explain, just do it!" Damon insisted.

"As you wish," she said, before grabbing his face and bringing his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.

Damon was too stunned by her actions to do anything for the seconds it lasted before she separated and said, "There. The spell is in place. Now what?"

Damon shook off his shock before grabbing Aphrodite's hand and running back towards the temple, "Come on!" he said, "I'll need more of your help!" With that, he let go of her hand before ripping off the bandage on his cut hand and pressing his thumb into the wound, making the blood well up and flow. He thrust his hand into the air, shouting, "Fresh mortal blood right here! Come and get it while it's hot, you flying rodent!"

Camazotz shrieked and charged after the fleeing pair.

"Doesn't she usually just blow a kiss to activate her spell?" Guan Yu asked as he and Thor fought the three remaining monsters.

"Tis true, but perhaps that way gives greater effect," Thor said, shrugging.

Meanwhile, Damon was leading Aphrodite and the literally bloodthirsty bat god back into the temple, "Come on, come on, where is it!?" Damon muttered looking around before he spotted what he was looking for: a large bell, "There!" With that, the two ran towards the bell, "Aph, grab the, uh, the mallet there and get ready to hit the bell as loud as you can!"

"Okay, but why?" she asked, doing as he ordered.

"I'll explain in a second, but right now you just have to do it!" he said before he stood in front of the bell, facing the bat god, "Come on, come and get you overgrown, flying rat!"

His taunts seemed to only enrage Camazotz who flew directly at Damon even faster than before.

Once it was close enough, Damon shouted, "Aph, now!"

At his signal, the goddess hit the bell as hard as she could, sending a loud sound ringing through the air. As deafening as Damon and Aphrodite found the sound to be, Camazotz clearly found it worse as it clamped its clawed hands over its ears while still in the air, causing it to crash to the ground and sliding across the ground to about a foot from where Damon stood. Damon then ran to the bell and, with his temporarily enhanced strength, smashed the columns holding the bell up before catching the bell on his shoulder. Damon, with a great roar of effort and anger, swung the bell in a downward arc at the rising bat god. The bat god could not take such a powerful hit and was smashed beneath the heavy metal bell with a splattering of ichor and gore.

Camazotz's crushed body began to glow and a massive beam shot into the sky before taking the form of a massive ethereal Camazotz before the energy and the ethereal Camazotz flowed back down to the ground and was absorbed into Damon's body.

Once the last of the energy was absorbed into his body, Damon looked his body in surprise, "What the hell was that?"

"It's like Camazotz's very essence was absorbed into your body!" Aphrodite said in shock.

"Yeah, but how? Why?" Damon asked noticing his hand was now healed as well.

"We can figure it out later!" Aphrodite said, "We need to hurry to Guan Yu and Thor's aid!"

"Right," Damon said nodding and the pair hurried back towards their allies, who, despite being outnumbered, were holding their own against the monsters.

When they got closer, Damon took a deep breath to yell at the monsters in order to get their attention, but rather than a human shout coming from his mouth, it was a high-pitched, bat-like shriek that knocked the monsters away from their opponents as an aura shaped like the bat god enveloped him. Damon's allies stared at him in surprise.

"I…I don't know how I did that, but we've got bigger things to worry about!" Damon said, facing off against the monsters alongside his allies.

"What are you?" Scylla asked, her normally taunting voice now filled with fear, "No mortal can do what you have done and you are no god, demi or otherwise!"

"No idea," Damon said, "But like I said earlier, we are gonna take you down!"

Bakasura hissed and charged at Damon, but he was ready and the blue energy from the group's last fight answered his summons, allowing him to send a powerful blast of energy at the eternally hungry demon. The demon was sent crashing into Fenrir and Guan Yu, taking advantage of Scylla's being distracted by the attack on her allies, delivered a deep cut to the Greek monster's child-like face, sending ichor flying through the air.

She hissed in pain and slipped back into the shadows with Fenrir and Bakasura following behind her.

"Yeah, you better run," Damon muttered as his group regrouped with him.

"Damon, are you alright?" Aphrodite asked, a worried expression on her face.

"Sure, why do you ask?" he asked before it seemed like all of the energy left his body and he passed out on his feet, falling into Aphrodite's arms.

As the goddess and two gods checked the unconscious man, a new pair of eyes watched from out of sight of the group.

"Tis just as my king stated. A new being unlike any seen before has entered the war, but be he friend or foe?" the figure wondered.

 **A/N: And there's chapter 2! Please, remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Reviews:**

 **Guest (Apr. 16):**

 **Glad you like it. I try to add more chapters as quickly as possible, but it doesn't work out that way.**

 **TheLunaticChild:**

 **Yeah, I have no idea what you were saying through most of the comment, but I'm glad you seem to like it.**

 **cjboughton:**

 **Thanks.**

 **Yorkmanic88:**

 **Glad you like it.**

 **BearerOfThree:**

 **Glad you're enjoying the story. I try to update it as quickly as I can, but, unfortunately, that doesn't always happen.**

 **The Alpha 100:**

 **Right here.**

 **Murthor Deepstone:**

 **As you wish.**

 **Lancelot227:**

 **I'm glad you like it. Hope that keeps up.**

 **BentOverWatch:**

 **Glad you like it.**

 **A/N: Okay, so this chapter focuses more on the origin of Aphrodite and her motivations than battle and it ended up a bit longer than I originally planned, but whatever. Please remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.**

 **Chapter 3:**

 **A Goddess' Origin Story**

In the darkness of their private room, two humanoid figures could be seen entwined together. Two pairs of lips mashed together, soft feminine moans, echoed through the room, hard masculine meat penetrated soft feminine meat, perfect feminine nails dug into hard masculine muscles.

As the two reached their climax, they both moaned out each other's names.

"Aph!" the man moaned.

"Damon!" the woman replied.

Damon jerked awake, his face as red as a tomato, as he looked down at himself, specifically below his waist, "Well, at least one part of me doesn't seem to have changed at all." He looked around, finding he was in an old building, sleeping on a wooden floor with a blanket covering him, and said, "Where the hell am I?"

He pushed the blanket off of himself before standing up and, after waiting a few minutes to let Damon Jr. go back to sleep, pushing the door open to find he had been sleeping in a building in the temple where they'd last fought the monsters.

"Ah, my young friend, good to see you are up!" Thor said, waving to him from where the three gods were sitting in a circle, clearly waiting for him.

"Hey, uh, how long was I out?" Damon asked.

"A few hours," Aphrodite said, "After you used that strange power that seemed to let you channel Camazotz, you passed out. Fell face first right into my breasts." Aphrodite added the last part with a giggle, which only increased as Damon's face turned neon red.

"Sorry about that," Damon said, looking down at the ground out of embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it," the goddess said, "I'm merely teasing. Now, since you're up, shall we get moving? We found some fruit so we can eat while we walk. My pantheon should only be a little over a day away."

"Great, lead the way," Damon said, grabbing an apple and the group headed out with Aphrodite leading the way, passing through a woodland area.

Unlike when they were walking before, Damon did his best to keep a distance from Aphrodite and when she spoke to him, he kept his responses as short and to the point as possible, like he was worried that she might sense the rather embarrassing dream he had. In fact, as a goddess, for all he knew, she could.

They had been walking for several hours without an incident when Aphrodite suddenly stopped and said, "Why don't we rest here for a bit?"

The men shrugged and agreed with the suggestion. After they found places to sit and started making conversation, Aphrodite interrupted it by pulling out the water flask they'd all been sharing and held it out to Thor.

"Thor, I think there's a stream nearby. Could you go and fill it up?" Aphrodite asked.

"Very well," the Norse god said, taking the flask, "I shall return soon."

"No rush. In fact, Guan Yu, why don't you go with him?" she asked.

The Chinese god looked between the goddess and Damon for a moment before nodding, "Alright. We won't be far."

Thor tried to speak more, but Guan Yu's hand on his shoulder silenced him before he could speak.

Once they were out of earshot, Aphrodite turned to Damon and asked, "Okay, what is wrong? You've been acting strangely ever since you woke up."

"W-What? I-I don't…I mean," Damon tried to find the words, but only continued to stutter.

"You had a dream about me, didn't you?" Aphrodite asked, the question clearly being rhetorical, "A sexual one."

"I, uh, I mean," he said, before sighing, "Yeah, sorry, I was really embarrassed and I swear I-I don't mean anything by it."

"I'm not insulted," she said, simply, "In fact, I'm flattered, but you shouldn't feel embarrassed. It's completely natural, though if you wanted we could try some of the things you dreamed about."

"Uh, I-I don't think we should," Damon said, blushing, before he tried to change the subject, "What did you mean that it was natural for me to dream about you?"

"I should probably have explained more. You see, I'm the goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality. When I use my powers on someone, I…bond myself to them. Dreams like those are pretty common among the symptoms. It'll fade after a while," she explained.

"Oh, well, still. Sorry about that," Damon said, still blushing.

"You just keep being a first for me," Aphrodite giggled.

"Huh?" Damon asked, confused.

"You see, no one has ever apologized for thinking of me lustfully before. The same with actually turning down me down for, well, anything," she explained before Damon noticed an expression he didn't recognize for a moment cross her face.

"That bothers you, doesn't it?" Damon asked, leaning towards her, "That no one has told you no."

"It's…a symptom of the overall problem," she said, sighing, "It's a long story and involves my origins."

"If you don't want to talk about it, Aph, you don't have to," Damon said, putting his hand on hers, feeling as though electricity flowed between them.

Aphrodite smiled at him, "No, I should probably tell someone and I think you are the perfect person to tell."

"Okay," Damon said, nodding.

"Do you know the story of my birth?" she asked.

"You mean the story where you were born from the foam formed by Cronus's castrated balls?" Damon asked.

"That's the one," she said, "You see, as the story goes, I was born an adult with the knowledge of an adult. For instance, I knew what a tree was and that sort of thing, but, at the same time, I didn't have any context to go along with the knowledge. I knew I was beautiful and I knew what sex was, so as I made my way to Olympus, where I learned there were more gods like me, I was propositioned many times. Since I lacked the context to knowing the importance people put it on sex, I didn't see the issue with doing it with anyone that interested me. By the time I reached Olympus, I'd already gained a rather poor reputation and Hera, fearing that between my reputation and Zeus's well-known philandering, worried that I would steal her husband and her position, not that I had any interest in him. Anyway, before I even got settled in, she, through forcing her husband to enforce it, married me to Hephaestus, or Vulcan as the Romans knew him. Now, I knew that marriage involved bonding two people together, but I didn't understand more than that. As a result, I didn't know how to act, but I thought I'd make the most of it and try to be a good wife. Since there was only one person at the time that was married and as a bonus, she was the goddess of marriage, I went to Hera," Aphrodite explained.

"Bet that turned out well," Damon said sarcastically.

"About as much as you'd think," she said, "Hera told me that a good wife waits patiently for her husband to return. That she was meant to ensure her husband's happiness more than her own."

"A bit hypocritical of her," Damon said.

"Extremely, but I didn't understand that then," Aphrodite said, "I tried to follow the example she described. I learned to cook. I tried talking with my husband about his concerns and problems. I even tried to learn how to smith so I could help him. Nothing seemed to work. It seemed like as soon as I was married to him, any interest he had in getting to know me vanished and he was happy with me just sitting on a shelf with the rest of his pretty little baubles. I began to hate him and my marriage. Even as I continued to try to make my marriage work, I watched married mortals and I felt envy. I'm ashamed to admit that I became arrogant and selfish. I saw so many men and women live together as though they would literally die without the other and I thought 'why couldn't I have that?' I felt I deserved that since I was a goddess and they were only mortals. I was no longer as naïve as I once was either. I knew that going to Hera and asking for a divorce would be a waste of time, so I tried to find another man to be with without asking for it. Mostly it was just mortals until I met Ares. He was so different. So opposite from me that I had to try and be with him."

"This part never appeared in the stories," Damon said, "But they did say how your…relations with Ares ended."

"The bronze net my 'loving' husband threw over us while we were coupling before dragging us out to be mocked in laughed at," she said, nodding as her mind went back to the event, "That was embarrassing, I admit, but that wasn't what ended our relationship."

"No?" Damon asked, curious.

She shook her head, "No, that time was going to be our last time together anyway. I'd realized that I didn't feel the sort of completion so many mortals seem to feel when they are with someone. When we were dragged out, it was settled when I saw his expression. Ares' face showed pride, not embarrassment. He was proud that he could show that he 'conquered' me. I was a trophy, just another spoil of war. He didn't love me."

"I'm sorry," Damon said, trying to make his smile as comforting as possible.

It seemed to work as she smiled back at him appreciatively, "Thank you. Back to the story, after Ares and I separated, I tried to find that sort of completion by taking other lovers. Each time, there was no sense of completion, of fullness, and eventually the thought that should have been obvious to me from the start occurred to me: they didn't love me. None of them. I didn't love them either, but still that whole thought changed my outlook. I realized that they only wanted to bed me and agreed with anything I asked in order to achieve that. I realized they only saw me as an object of beauty. Do you realize how humiliating it is for a goddess of love to have never known love?" she asked him rhetorically before continuing, "So I thought if I could be considered the most beautiful, if people accepted that I was the most beautiful, then maybe I could finally find someone to love me." Seeing his disbelieving expression, she nodded, "Yes, I understand it sounds strange, but that's what I thought. Anyway, it wasn't long after that a golden apple rolled between Hera, Athena, and I."

"The one that started the Trojan War," Damon said solemnly.

Aphrodite shook her head, "No. It's easy to blame the Apple for the War, but it was our arrogance and especially mine. Anyway, after it all ended, I realized the horror my arrogance and beauty had wrought. I began to hate my beauty, despise it. I even tried to…get rid of it."

"Get rid of it?" Damon asked, getting a cold feeling in his gut.

She nodded, "I snuck into Hephaestus' forge once and stole a dagger, one that he wouldn't notice missing. I then…cut myself across the face, working through the pain by remembering all the pain my beauty had caused others and myself, but as you can see, I just healed. I couldn't get rid of this curse."

"So, what did you decide to do?" Damon asked.

"I decided that I would try to find a way to use more than just my beauty; to be seen as something more than just a beautiful goddess to prove I was actually worth something more and to redeem myself, but my fellow gods refused to allow it. Always waving off my attempts like I was a child, until this war began and I saw my chance. I saw it as a chance to finally do what I wanted and I thought I might be able to at least use my beauty to end the war and save lives this time."

"I understand," Damon said, "I hope you succeed. I'll help you as much as I can."

"There's something else," she said, "I never stopped looking for someone to love, someone that gives me those sparks that mortals are always talking about."

"Okay and…what? You want me to help you get with a guy?" Damon asked, trying to ignore the writhing snakes of jealousy playing in his gut.

"No, I mean, the one that made me feel those sparks is the one who is the first one to tell me 'no;' to make me feel like I can be more than a pretty face," she said, "I want you. Will you be my love?"

"Aph, I-I," Damon stuttered, not sure what to say.

Before he could say anything else, Damon was sent flying by something colliding with him. He looked up to see Scylla standing over him, an enraged expression on her face. Damon glanced over to Aphrodite and saw she was trying to hold off Bakasura and Fenrir.

"Scylla, I am really getting tired of you," Damon said, glaring up at the being standing over him with her dog-headed tentacles snapping at him.

"Believe me, the feeling is mutual, so I'm going to make sure you are out of my hair for good!" she said, as she sent all of her tentacles after him, but he dodged the attack by rolling out of the way.

She continued to chase after him while Aphrodite used her doves to try and keep space between her and the other two terrors.

"Ho there, my friends! We come to your aid!" Thor shouted as he leapt into the fray by attacking Fenrir while Guan Yu attacked Bakasura.

Scylla growled with frustration, "I am so sick of your resistance!" With that, she attacked Guan Yu from behind, knocking him hard into a tree. The Chinese god fell to the ground hard, unconscious.

Bakasura and Scylla turned their combined attention back to Damon who was back on his feet and racing to try and help Thor and Aphrodite. Scylla managed to grab Damon before he could reach them and with Fenrir occupying Thor and Aphrodite, Damon found himself pinned by Scylla with a drooling Bakasura standing over him.

"Time to feast," Scylla giggled as Damon tried to wrench his limps free from Scylla's grasp to no avail.

Just as the demon was about to dig into its trapped feast, a sword came spinning out of nowhere and cut off one of Scylla's tentacles, freeing one of Damon's arms. Damon grabbed the sword from where it embedded in the ground and stabbed Bakasura in the head, killing the Hindi demon.

Scylla shrieked in rage as she retreated from Damon, freeing him as a woman he didn't recognize drove her knee in Scylla's human face. Scylla retreated into the shadows of the trees while Thor hit Fenrir with a powerful bolt of lightning and electrocuting the beast. Fenrir tried to escape his uncle's attacks, but Aphrodite used her doves to keep cutting off its escape while the new woman and Damon charged at him. Fenrir tried to attack Damon with its claws, but Damon managed to duck under the attacks and the new woman spun and drove her knee into Fenrir's back with enough force to break a normal person's back. When Fenrir tried to regain its footing, Damon, using the borrowed sword, stabbed the wolf in the side of its head.

After it dropped to the ground, the group turned to look at the new woman. Damon would have thought the armor she was wearing would be very useful if it didn't just cover her breasts, shoulders, waist, and from her knees to her feet.

"Lady Freya! 'Tis good to see one of my fellows!" Thor said, smiling broadly to greet the woman.

"Greetings, Thor, I am pleased to see you are well," she said, nodding her greetings as she pulled her sword from Fenrir's corpse, "Lord Odin's ravens detected something unusual and he sent me to investigate. My apologies for not making myself known sooner, but I wanted to be certain thou was not under some manner of spell or trickery."

"Thy caution is understandable, but I am pleased thou hast come!" Thor said.

Damon noticed that the bodies of the two dead seemed to react like Camazotz and their energy flowed into his body as the group watched in awe. Once the power was done flowing into his body, Damon dropped to his knees, panting heavily.

Aphrodite was at his side in a flash, kneeling by him, "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah," Damon said, still panting, "As twisted as it sounds, I think I'm getting the hang of that." With Aphrodite's help, he got to his feet, his legs wobbling slightly as he got them under him. He walked over to Freya and Thor, who were checking over Guan Yu, "Thanks for coming to help us," he said, holding out his hand, which she took and shook, "You're Freya, right? As in the queen of the valkyries?"

"I'm please thou art alright. 'Tis quite the interesting ability thou has," she said.

"Thanks, don't quite understand it yet, but I'm learning a little," Damon said before gesturing to Guan Yu, "Is the big guy alright?"

"I'm fine," the Chinese god groaned as he got to his feet, "I see two of our enemies have met their end. Scylla managed to slip away, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah, luckily Freya here arrived just in the nick of time," Damon said, gesturing to the Norse goddess.

"I heard thy plan to seek the aid of the Greeks for answers. It is a wise one, though Lord Odin would perhaps be another choice in case they fail to provide the necessary information," she suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Damon agreed, "Now, would you three mind if I speak with Aphrodite alone?"

Guan Yu, Thor, Freya looked at each other and shrugged before walking away. Once they were out of earshot, Damon turned to an interested Aphrodite, "First, I want to say that I am extremely tempted by your offer, but I'm gonna have to decline."

Aphrodite looked at him in shock and confusion, "B-But why?"

"I can't be your love, or boyfriend as us mortals call it, because while I do like you…a lot, I can't say I love you. Not yet anyway. I also don't think you really love me. I mean, you don't even know me. If we did become romantic, we would have to date for a while so we could get to know each other better," he said.

"Date? Oh, is that what you call courting?" she asked.

Damon nodded, "Yes, but there's something that prevents us from even doing that."

"What? What else prevents us from being together?" she asked, sounding more upset by the continued denial of her wishes.

"Your marriage," he said simply.

"What about it? I told you how much I hate my marriage and that I was forced into it, so why does it matter?" she asked.

"Because, no matter the reasons, it would be wrong to be with a married woman, but considering the circumstances, if you tell Hephaestus, or Vulcan if that's what he calls himself, that you're divorcing him. Even if Hera and Zeus won't make it official, you tell him that and mean it, that will be enough for me," Damon said.

"So, I just tell him and we can be together?" she asked, a smile spreading across her face.

"If you mean it, then yes," Damon said.

"I will mean it," she said, "But I have a couple conditions of my own." Her tone told Damon that she would broke no arguments.

"Okay, what are they?" he asked, hoping they weren't too much for him.

"First, we will continue to talk and enjoy each other's company like we have since we met," she said seriously.

"Okay, that sounds fine," he said, nodding his acceptance.

"Second, I expect one kiss a day, not counting times I need to use my powers on you," she said.

"Aph, come on, I told yo-" he started before she pressed a finger to his lips to silence him.

"I have never gone this long without sex and if you think I'm going to go without at least the tiniest intimacy, you're crazy," she said, her tone unchanging.

"Fine, but on the cheek," Damon said.

"On the lips, but it can be a little peck," she said, glaring at him.

"Alright, I guess that can be alright," Damon said, still sounding uncomfortable, "Actually, I wanted to ask you: do you have to kiss everyone you use your powers on?"

"No, usually I just blow a kiss. You're the only one I actually kiss to use my powers on," she said, with a calm, serious expression.

Knowing that he was never going to convince her of the wrongness of that admission, Damon sighed and said, "Fine, any other conditions?"

"Just one," she said, "We will sleep together from now on." Seeing he was going to argue, she said, "I understand that you will not allow us to make love to each other, but I will be sleeping with you. After all this time seeing mortal women who sleep better than they ever did alone when they are with those they love, I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can. None negotiation."

With that, she stood up and walked to join the others. It would be another five minutes before it occurred to him that she'd agreed that Damon didn't love her, but not that she didn't love him. He knew that she would do everything in her repertoire to get him to change his mind. He just hoped he'd be able to resist until his morals would allow him to give in, though he doubted it.

The group, now including Freya, who decided to join them on their journey, continued towards the area where the Greek pantheon could be found.

As the sun started to set and the light began to fade from the sky, they managed to find a small Roman temple where they found some rooms containing more cloth that they could use for blankets.

"Looks like there are only four rooms," Guan Yu said, "Who will be sharing a room?"

"Damon and I will take the room on the end," Aphrodite said, wrapping her arms around his right before pulling him to the mentioned.

"I guess that settles that," Guan Yu said, with the others nodding with surprise and uncertainty.

Inside the specified room, Damon started using cushions to make a makeshift bed before getting on it and covering himself with the improvised blanket. While he was doing this, Aphrodite closed the door, blocking out what little light actually got into the room, and was doing something that Damon couldn't see.

As she was doing whatever it was that she was doing, Damon said, "Aph, you know that we're not…you know."

"I'm aware we're not going to make love," she said as she moved under the covers, "I promise that I won't make you go against your silly, but charming morals."

She snuggled against him and draped his arm over her so that the two were spooning. It was then that Damon noticed certain facts that he didn't in the dark.

"Okay, uh, one more question, are you, uh, naked?" he asked, blushing so brightly he thought it would actually light up the room.

"Yes, I sleep in the nude," she giggled mischievously, "I probably didn't mention that earlier, did I?"

Her tone told Damon that she was quite aware of the answer.

Damon sighed and said, "No, you didn't."

"Well, I didn't promise that I wouldn't try to get you to change your mind," Aphrodite giggled, "Now, shush, it's time to sleep."

Damon sighed again and, knowing it would be pointless to argue, closed his eyes before trying to go to sleep while trying to avoid thinking about his current situation in an attempt to avoid any "physical reactions."

Little did he realize that he was still being watched, but not by Freya or anyone nearby.

He was being watched through a glowing, floating orb by a pair of shadowy figures.

"Soon, Great One, you will shake off your mortal shell and truly awaken," one of the figures said with giddy excitement.

"And we will receive our rewards for our loyal service," the other said with equal excitement.

The two were joined by three others and one of the new three stated, "You two are using the Tapestry of Fate for your own purposes and there will be consequences of it."

"Do not threaten us, fools," the first figure said, "Our Master will give us our rewards for our service. He will rule all and we will serve by his side."

"You are foolish to believe that reviving Him will go well for you or anyone else," one of the trio said, "If that being awakens to his full self, all of creation could be threatened. Gods will die. Planets will be annihilated.

"You want to try and stop us?" the second figure asked, her tone uncaring, as she prepared for anything the trio would try.

"No," one of the three figures said, "We know better than to involve ourselves directly in the flow of Fate."

"Then begone," the first figure ordered, "Make sure you stay out of our way or else when He is awakened, we will ensure that you are among the first to die."

"We are not worried," one of the trio said before they disappeared into the shadows and the two conspirators turned back to watch their subject sleep.

 **A/N: And there's chapter 3! Please, remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.**


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